Honor Comes Home
Business Group Hosts Several Former Joint Base Andrews Leaders In Honor of Service. At-Large Councilmember Mel Franklin Delivers Hopeful Message
By Raoul Dennis
“America is home to 17.5 million veterans, with nearly 60,000 of them calling Prince George's County home,” says Jim Estepp, president and CEO of the Greater Prince George’s Business Roundtable. “We honor them on this Veterans Day and every day.”
It is no exaggeration. Prince George’s County is home to the greatest number of veterans in Maryland. It’s also the home of Air Force One, courtesy of the men and women of Joint Base Andrews.
The Roundtable played host to several distinguished military officers (both active duty and retired), all of whom served at Andrews over the past 10 years at the November 11 meeting. They included Lieut. Gen. Steve Shepro (Ret.), Col. Brad Hoagland (Ret.) and Col. Ian Dinesen.
Although their presence brought decades of military experience and years of leadership in national defense, the officers focus most of the remarks on community, gratitude, service and memories of the years working with and living in Prince George’s.
It’s all about diversity, empathy, respect and transparency, Lieut. Gen. Shepro remarked. “I saw all that at the Roundtable and I carried it with me,” he said of his new position as a vice president for Strike, Surveillance and Mobility at Boeing.
Col. Hoagland recognized COVID-19 as the current threat the nation must turn its attention toward. “COVID-19 is real. It reminds me of the oath we all took to defend the nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic and COVID-19 is included in that,” he said reflecting on what was known as the Spanish flu and the military responsibilities during World War I.
Col. Dinesen, who attended on behalf of Col. Tyler Schaff, has only been at Andrews for four months but he is already plugged in to the value of the relationship between the base and the community. “The partnership with Prince Georges County is critically valuable to the work we do,” he says. Dinesen drew attention to the ripple effect COVID-19 has had on the base and its community with concerns ranging from overall safety to single-parent personnel and the families they are connected to back home.
Through it all, morale can be a challenge.
“The leading cause of death in our military today is suicide,” Estepp says. “It’s no doubt exacerbated by COVID-19 and the isolation we all face as a result of protecting ourselves from the global pandemic. We will assist in any way we can to lessen the burden of those serving our nation.”
Will the FBI Headquarters Option in Prince George’s Rise Again?
During his remarks, At-large County Councilmember Mel Franklin revisited the possibility of the FBI headquarters campus being developed in the county.
At-Large councilmember Mel Franklin
“With President-Elect Biden soon to be president, the idea of the FBI headquarters in Prince Georges County may become a possibility again,” remarked the veteran County Council leader who reminded the business-anchored membership that the county was in a highly favorable position to be awarded the job-creating federal development just months before the Trump administration came into office in 2016 and redirected the effort toward the District.
“We will work with our federal partners to see where it goes,” Franklin said.
He also drew attention to the next COVID-19 relief effort. “We are hoping that the second round of stimulus will be directed toward local governments. The first round had restrictions that prevented use of the funds for those needs,” he said referring to local, practical support for first responders, schools, public works and more.
“Prince George's County continues to walk the fine line between managing public health and creating a working economy while wrestling with the challenges of the near future as a result of the pandemic,” says Estepp, himself a former councilmember.
The recent Public-Private Partnership agreement with the Prince George’s County Public Schools System was acknowledged as a lasting win for the county.
The six-school, innovative, fast-track construction effort is expected to be an “economic stimulus to the local economy,” said Franklin. One that will provide opportunities for MBEs and open new schools by 2023, shaving a decade off the undertaking through traditional means, according to PGCPS CEO Dr. Monica Goldson.
“Roundtable leaders, in partnership with elected, civic and military leaders, will continue to innovate in the face of these challenges, bring about more results like the groundbreaking P3 between business and county government, leading to significant monetary savings, while speeding processes and providing top-flight facilities in which county students can learn most effectively,” Estepp added.
